Every day, millions of people play The New York Times Crossword. And this morning, they’ll be working through a puzzle crafted by Traverse City resident Jonathan Baude.
Baude's puzzle appears in the Dec. 2 edition of the Times and is on its New York Times Games app. And having his work appear there fulfills a dream Baude has held his entire adult life.
"I've been trying to submit many times over the years, so I'm pretty used to the short, nice, polite rejection email you get," Baude told IPR's Morning Edition. "But when I opened this (email) requesting the edits, I saw enough lines of text that I knew something was happening."
That's right. It wasn't a "yes" so much as a "yes, if...," but he's been waiting for years, so the email asking for a few changes was a thrill.
"They asked me just for two words to change — a three-letter world and a four-letter word," he said. "But as you might suspect, just changing those two words is kind of like unravelling a sweater. That changed almost 50 percent of the grid."
They went back and forth for about two months.
Now it's ready, and you can find it here.
But wait! There's more! Baude generously made three mini-crosswords especially for IPR. Sign up for our newsletter and we'll send you all three to solve in Saturday's email.
5 quick questions for Jonathan Baude
Favorite word you've ever found in a crossword: "Zolaesque," which means "in the style of Émile Zola, the writer."
Word you've always wanted to cram into a crossword: "Right now I'm trying to find a spot for 'girl dinner,' which has not appeared in The New York Times anywhere yet.
Best day to do the NYT Crossword: Tuesday.
Are you good at the (infamously difficult) Sunday crossword: "I am good at Sunday. I like the Friday and Saturday quite a bit. But I'm drawn to those early days in the week which have the theme, which I just find very satisfying, too."
On whether those tricky clues are tricky on purpose: Yes. ... It's so satisfying when you find a phrase that just feels like it was handed down from the gods to allow you to do an idiom that's actually a pun too. There's no better feeling, frankly.
